DETROIT -- The stage was set for another night of Javier Báez heroics: Winning run on third, one out in the ninth, Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman on the mound, a raucous crowd on its feet chanting, “Ja-vy! Ja-vy!”
Báez connected with Chapman’s 100 mph fastball … and hit a popout behind first base. And as Báez flipped his bat in frustration, the groans from fans turned into silence at an opportunity missed.
So Justyn-Henry Malloy did the job instead. And as the Tigers mobbed Malloy around second base after his walk-off single, they not only had a 6-5 win and a three-game series sweep, they had their latest example of what buy-in means.
Báez, the reigning veteran in the Tigers’ lineup and a World Series champion, has set an example for selflessness with his embrace of a position switch, a role change and a more disciplined approach at the plate. Malloy, a 25-year-old stepping off the bench for his 106th Major League game, follows the tone.
“You come to the ballpark ready to win,” Malloy said. “There’s a feeling of momentum. There’s a feeling of just wanting to contribute, and you know that you have a role. I think the amount of buy-in with that role, it just creates a really selfless atmosphere where guys are ready to jump in the game. How can I impact? How can I help the guys out? How can I move a guy over? How can I run the bases for my boy so that his at-bat gets easier?
“It really is a selfless act of trying to play the game, and I think our group’s doing an incredible job of doing so.”
Malloy, a former Braves prospect, was the first trade acquisition by president of baseball operations Scott Harris, brought in for Joe Jiménez 2 1/2 years ago. He moved from third base to outfield at Triple-A Toledo, became an everyday player for a chunk of his first stint in Detroit last summer, opened this season back in Toledo, then settled into a part-time role facing lefties once Detroit’s outfield injuries prompted his return. The Tigers kept him over Manuel Margot once Margot’s rehab assignment ended last week.
It’s a role fellow Tiger Andy Ibáñez has thrived in. But while Ibáñez is a 32-year-old veteran with three years in the role, Malloy is still learning it. He has leaned on advice, including from Miguel Cabrera, on staying moving and paying attention to the game.
For Malloy, it’s a game of routines to be ready, stretching in the third inning, hitting in the cage from the fourth inning, looking at the course of the game and potential matchups from the sixth inning on. Once Malloy saw Chapman warming in the Red Sox’s bullpen, he honed in on a potential rematch.
“Just being prepared,” Malloy said, “just knowing that when I do have the opportunity to step into the game and try to impact it, it’s going to be a big moment at some point, and I just try to stay ready for that moment. Tonight was one of those nights where I stayed ready and got rewarded, so it’s pretty cool.”
Malloy popped out against Chapman pinch-hitting for Kerry Carpenter to lead off the ninth inning Tuesday. He saw a heavy diet of fastballs up and in, missed one over the plate, fouled off another and had to offer at a heater up and in.
Ibáñez set up Wednesday’s situation by pinch-hitting for Zach McKinstry and drawing a leadoff walk. He stole second base, saw catcher Carlos Narváez’s throw sail into center field, then took third, putting the winning run 90 feet away.
Chapman struck out Sweeney and retired Báez to bring up Akil Baddoo’s spot, with Carpenter on deck. Though Spencer Torkelson was available on the bench, Malloy got the call.
“If I hit Tork, they can walk him to get to Carp,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I can hit somebody else for Carp, and then it keeps going down the line. However they were going to play it, we were going to have a counter.”
With Ibáñez on third, all the Tigers needed was a hit. Malloy, with his plate discipline, would get the pitch. He just had to connect.
“He knows the strike zone,” Hinch said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the strike zone.”
After taking a first-pitch fastball just off the outer edge and another well in, Malloy was ready for the 2-0 heater over the plate, lining it over second baseman Kristian Campbell and into center field.
Malloy, part of the scrum that dumped water, baby powder and everything else on Báez Tuesday night, suddenly found himself on the receiving end.
“That’s just pure joy,” Malloy said.